UNITED
NATIONS, April
22 -- After
the Nigerian
army attacked
Boko Haram
fighters in
Baga, after a
soldier was
killed, dozens
or up to 185
people were
killed, many
of them by the
government
forces.

At
the April 22
noon briefing,
Inner City
Press asked UN
spokesman
Martin Nesirky
if the UN,
which has a UN
House and UN
Country Team
in
Nigeria, had
any
information or
response to
the serious
fighting.
Nesirky said
there might be
something
soon.

Two
hours later,
Nesirky's
office issued
this
statement:

“The
Secretary-General
is shocked and
saddened at
the reports of
high
numbers of
civilians
killed, and
homes
destroyed, as
a result of
violence
between
military
forces and an
extremist
group in the
northeastern
town of Baga
in Borno
State,
Nigeria, on 19
and 20
April. He
expresses his
condolences to
the bereaved
families and
calls on all
extremist
groups to
cease their
attacks. The
Secretary-General
reiterates his
firm
conviction
that no
objective
sought can
justify this
resort to
violence. He
underscores
the need
for all
concerned to
fully respect
human rights
and safeguard
the
lives of
civilians.”

After
what is
reported as a
government
attack on
Baga, to call
for
“extremist
groups to
cease their
attacks” seems
strange. Then
again, when
the Sri Lankan
government was
killing some
40,000
civilians in
the blood bath
on the beach
in 2009, Ban's
UN didn't
even call for
a ceasefire.
And what
accountability
has there
been?

Ban's
approach to
Nigerian and
Sri Lankan
government
military
offenses
directed at
“extremist” or
terrorist
groups can be
contrasted his
views on other
countries,
other
governments.
But that will
be another
story. For now
we'll only
note that it
seems
to turn on the
position of
Ban's
(Western)
power base
toward the
opposition
group.